A Day in the Mountains
by coloradoandcolorado1
Summary: A mistake. One terrible, unintentional mistake. An error in judgment that could cost you everything, and someone else his life. ON HOLD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
1. Chapter 1

"_No more."_

_Barely a whisper, the heartbreaking plea shook the paramedic to the core. Ignoring the desperate appeal, he tried to make his patient as comfortable as possible, which wasn't saying much in their current situation._

"_Help is almost here," he said loudly, as if sheer volume could make the words be true. "You just have to hang on a few more minutes."_

"_Please…." A shaking hand reached up to his arm. "Save yourself. Let me go."_

_The fireman shuddered. Then with a fierce determination, he gently took hold of his partner's chin, turning the ashen face until blue eyes met brown._

"_Like hell I will."_

~.~.~.~.~.~

Kimberly Sholes turned her small U.S. Park Service truck down the dusty road toward the Granger Outpost camping site and unconsciously gripped the steering wheel tighter. _Road_ was a generous description of the rough and tumble stretch she drove on. It was barely the width of one car. Someone unfamiliar with its ruts and rocks could be caught unaware and have serious damage done to his or her oil pan, but Kimberly had driven it so many times, she knew when to swerve right or left with her eyes closed.

Not many campers ventured out to Granger Outpost. Kimberly had observed it wasn't popular among young families or first-timers, most likely due to its remoteness and lack of facilities. And even fewer people camped as far as the last fire ring, which is where she was headed.

A few times she had caught teenagers having a kegger back there and once or twice she had to kick out some stoners, but over her five years on the job, she hardly ever rarely met anyone this far back. It was where she liked to come and think if she had time off, a quiet and peaceful place to sit and watch the blue jays.

This job was a good fit for her, overall. Kimberly enjoyed both the solitude of driving her truck and the chance to meet people who loved the forest as much as she did. When she was on patrol, she got to talk to campers from all over the world, including a family from Australia and even a man from Brazil. A hometown girl of little means, she had never had the opportunity to travel, so she was fascinated by people who did.

On a typical day, Kimberly didn't have to be at the station very much, which suited her fine. She couldn't stand being around Todd and Nick or the way they would laugh and make comments about fat chicks when they thought she couldn't hear them.

Blonde haired and blue eyed, she shared the same coloring as Cheryl Tiegs, but that's where the similarities stopped. When tourists asked where she was from and she responded Southern California, they would look at her quizzically, as if every young woman from Los Angeles had to be tan, slim, and beautiful. Wouldn't they all be surprised to know she had a boyfriend? That's right, Todd and Nick, _a boyfriend _and his name was Ben.

The road opened into a small clearing. Kimberly smiled as she spied a familiar white Land Rover parked to one side of the fire ring. John Gage was one of the Granger Outpost regulars. He had been coming there for years and appreciated its true wilderness quality. When she first met him, Kimberly had blushed furiously and couldn't maintain eye contact with the tall, handsome man. But after running into him a few other times, she felt more comfortable, especially if the subject of their conversation turned to nature and the woods.

"Hi Kimberly!" John called out pleasantly as he adjusted his pack.

"Hey Johnny," she said as she rolled down her window. A man with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes approached from the other side of the Rover.

"This is my partner at the fire station, Roy DeSoto. Roy, this is Kimberly Sholes."

Roy waved. "Hey, how are you?"

"Good to meet you." Kim smiled. "So where are you off to?"

"Roy's never been to the Punch Bowls, so that's where we're headed. Oh, thanks for showing me that other way up there. We're going to give it a try," John said. "I can't believe I never knew about it before."

"Not many people do, but it used to be the only way to get up there. Well, have fun. I'll swing by later to make sure your Rover is OK," Kimberly volunteered. "Though I'm sure it will be. No one ever comes out here."

"Thanks, I appreciate it. We'll probably get back by sundown. Have a great day!"

"Nice meeting you," Roy added.

Kimberly watched the pair amble toward the trees wishing she, too, could take the next couple of hours to hike up to the Punch Bowls, one of the area's best-kept secrets. The path most people took was fairly tame, but the route she had introduced John to gained 400 vertical feet as it meandered through a steep canyon, ending at the five granite, bowl-shaped pools filled with cold mountain water.

Maybe on her next day off she could go up there. With one last wave goodbye, she drove around the fire ring and headed back the way she came.

~.~.~.~.~.~

With the scent of dusty pine trees surrounding them, the partners walked a little while in companionable silence.

"How'd you meet her?" Roy finally asked, ducking under a low-hanging branch.

"You know, I don't really remember. Probably when I was camping here sometime." John looked back over his shoulder at his best friend. "I'm glad you could come today."

"Me, too. I didn't want to have to do stuff around the house with Joanne and the kids down at her mom's for the weekend. But tomorrow I'm watching the game."

"Who's playing?"

"The Rams and the 49ers."

"Sounds good."

"Good? It will be great," Roy said confidently.

"Wait until you see the view from the Punch Bowls. It's fantastic. And the water in the pools? Man, I might just have to go for a swim, 'cause I think it's going to get hot today."

Roy rolled his eyes. "Just spare me and keep your clothes on, OK?"

"Don't tell me you've never been skinny-dipping?" John couldn't see his partner's face, but he knew Roy would be getting annoyed with him. John grinned. "Or gone to Blacks Beach in San Diego? They don't wear nothin' there."

"Are you really asking me this?" the older paramedic asked incredulously. "Do you honestly think I can say, 'Hey Jo, watch the kids for a while why I go to Blacks Beach'? For Pete's sake, I'm married!"

"And that's just one more reason why I'll never get hitched!" John gestured for emphasis. "I mean, why can't a married guy go to a nude beach?"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously."

"Not only do I never want to parade around in the all-together, I don't want to see other people's birthday suits."

"And?"

"And because I'm a grown up!"

"And?"

"And… and Joanne would kill me!" Roy sputtered.

John smiled. Sometimes it was just so much fun to annoy Roy. "That doesn't explain why it's against the rules! I mean, if marriage is supposed to be based on trust—"

Roy kicked himself for having given his highly expressive friend something to rail against. "I have no one to blame but myself," Roy muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?" John paused as the path they travelled on split into two. He gestured to the one going up the hill and they continued walking.

"Nothing. I didn't say anything," his partner replied.

"Anyway," John continued, "I was dating this one chick and _she_ said…"

Roy sighed. It was going to be a long hike.


	2. Chapter 2

As the climb up the canyon grew steeper, John's excitement increased. Kimberly hadn't exaggerated: This route to the Punch Bowls far surpassed the main trail. Large rocks—boulders, really—lined the canyon walls above his head, one on top of another as if a giant had stacked them. The trail, a little overgrown with vegetation, dipped and twisted until it began to run parallel to a mountain stream. The water level was low, but John could imagine that during heavy rains, it would be a dangerous torrent. Right now it was only a foot or so deep, tinkling rhythmically as it ran to an unknown destination.

Without warning, the path turned sharply at a right angle and ended abruptly at the water's edge.

"What now?" Roy surveyed the scene.

John pointed to the opposite side where the trail started again. "We cross."

The water had a bite to it, but it felt refreshing, as the day was getting hotter. The two men continued their trek on the other side only to find a little distance away they had to cross back to the other side. They ended up doing this four more times. Finally they had climbed off the floor of the canyon.

Stopping for a drink of water, Roy wiped the back of his neck with his blue bandana. Scanning the boulders to his right, his mouth fell open. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

John followed his friend's gaze and began grinning like a little kid. This was going to be _fun_!

~.~.~.~.~.~

True to her word, Kimberly returned to the last fire ring at Grangers Outpost later that day. And she was excited! When she had finished patrolling earlier, she had stopped by the station and to her surprise found a letter waiting for her.

"It's from Ben!" she had squealed, drawing the unwanted attention of Nick.

"What did you say, Kim?" He looked up abruptly.

"Did you see who dropped this off?" she asked.

"I dunno. Some guy," Nick replied.

"Why didn't he wait until I got back?"

"I dunno."

It didn't matter. Kimberly snatched the envelope off the desk and headed back out to the truck. She wanted to go to her favorite spot to read it. Pulling to a stop next to Johnny's Rover, she got out and sat down on a large, flat rock. Anxiously, she ripped open the envelope at one end and blew into it. Ben hadn't called in a week, not since he had received his orders to South Korea. She unfolded the paper with excitement.

"Kim, you're a really great girl, but I don't think we should keep seeing each other. I'm really sorry…"

_What?_

Kimberly looked up from the bright white paper.

_What?_

Then she began to cry.

The rest of the words danced across the page. Something about heading in different directions and it had been fun.

She had been sure he was The One. When they met at the air show in San Diego last month, he seemed to really understand her, though she had to admit she had been drunk and her judgment not the best. And, she admitted to herself in that moment of pain, she really didn't know that much of guys to begin with. _Foolish, so foolish._

Emotions swirled as Kimberly's grief turned to anger. "You lousy son of a bitch!"

Jumping up, she ripped the letter in half and threw it among the charred logs and ashes in the fire pit. Breathing hard, she put her hands on her hips and stared off into the distance where the national forest land bordered county land. But she didn't see anything but Ben's face.

In the cloud of feelings that threatened to overwhelm her, Kimberly's thoughts focused on only one thing. She impulsively pulled out her cigarette lighter and set the letter on fire. She watched with distinct satisfaction as the paper flickered and curled in on itself.

The wind in the Ponderosa pines blew lonely and restless as dirt and leaves swirled at her feet. Another Santa Ana was coming, the weatherman had said, bringing awful heat and moisture-stealing wind to Los Angeles. But Kimberly didn't care. She didn't care about anything any more. She buried her face in her hands.

Gaining intensity, the breeze lifted remnants of the letter out into the dry forest grass. Wiping her eyes with the back of her sleeve, Kimberly didn't notice the brush alight until it was too late.

"No!" she cried as she ran to stomp on the grass. "No, no, no, no, no!"

But the dry undergrowth beckoned to the flames, which leaped from spot to spot like a starving animal that had just discovered a buffet of food.

Realizing she couldn't put out the blaze by herself, Kimberly ran to the truck to radio it in but skidded to a stop. How would she ever explain it? She would lose her job, lose everything. She watched the flames spread as the hot wind blew smoke and sparks further and further away.

Jumping in the truck and throwing it into reverse, Kimberly nearly spun out as she tore down the road. When she looked back at the fire in the rearview mirror she gasped in horror. It was racing among the scrub oak and circling the camping area like the predator it was.

She hit the accelerator. The truck made contact with every each bump in the road at a pace that sent her head crashing into the roof. She exited onto the twisting road down to the ranger station. Her thoughts raced.

_Just say you thought you saw smoke in the distance_, she thought. _They won't know it's not true. No one will ever know._

Hot tears blinded her. She took the next curve fast as a new and horrifying thought flashed across her panicked brain. It was like all the air was sucked out of the car. She couldn't breathe.

"Johnny!" she shouted.

_OhGodOhGodOhGodOhGod_

Kimberly knew she didn't matter anymore. Not her job, not even if it meant she had to go to jail. She had get help. Shouting expletives, she cursed the fact she hadn't responded at the scene. Fumbling for the mic, she hoped she hadn't lost too much time. In the split second it took to glance down, her tires were squealing. She jerked the wheel to the left, hard, at the next turn, but the truck was going too fast.

Screaming, Kimberly threw her arms up to protect her face as her car careened off the road and smashed head-on into a tree.


End file.
